Side Story 1: The Issue of Shortness
by Shamera
Summary: A side story to Into the Cold Fire, where Draco and Harry are trying to figure out who's taller. Fluffy and cute.


Disclaimers: The characters don't belong to me... *waves off* I know that already, dammit. Only the idea belongs to me, and I can hardly remember when the idea started floating around in my head. And I'm writing this when I should be doing math homework... ^^;;;

The promised fluff that I'm trying out. ^_^ I'm going more for humor and silliness in general, although it can be taken any way. A bit of Draco+Harry/Harry+Draco hints as well as Blaise teasing Harry. Cuteness? Cuteness!! ^_^ Dedicated to _suzaku no hi_ on AIM, ( tdei on ff.net) hope you enjoy this little tadbit of silliness!

  


Side Story 1: The Issue of Shortness  
Shamera 

  
  
Ron was having a hard time deciding between laughing until he passed out, or banging his head against the wall. Repeatedly. It wasn't often that he had an urge like that, nor was it often that he had to make a decision like that. Normally, if he couldn't decide on an action, he'd do both. 

But he also figured it would look pretty stupid (not to mention quite insane) to laugh hysterically while banging one's head against the wall. 

It really was too bad that he didn't have a camera. There were moments when Colin Creevey would have come in handy. 

"Stop squirming like that," Malfoy was saying, toeing off his shoes. 

"I'm not squirming," Harry replied, sounding indignant, "I'm just trying not to slouch, that's all." 

"Excuses, excuses," Malfoy mocked, also trying to stand taller. 

They had been at it for a while now, and Ron could honestly say that this was a scene in his life he would remember forever. It all started yesterday, when Malfoy had called Harry 'short' and Harry had retaliated with the same comment. The two of them had hurried to Blaise to demand to know who was taller while in Care of Magical Creatures, but Blaise said that he was too biased to judge. 

In which, of course, Harry had told him that "biased is fine as long as you say I'm taller." 

Blaise had grinned wildly and draped an arm over Harry, telling him and the steaming Malfoy that they both suffered from shortness. 

And that lead, to the great entertainment of Ron, Seamus, and Dean, Blaise getting chased and hexed by both his Gryffindor and Slytherin friend. 

Of course, Ron couldn't quite remember how exactly he had gotten himself in such a mess as to actually agree to sneak out of Gryffindor tower with Hermione Granger so they could see and judge for themselves, who was actually taller. 

Ron couldn't care a whit about who was taller, though. He completely agreed with Blaise that both Malfoy and Harry were extremely short, both being an inch shorter than Hermione. Not that he would ever tell either of the boys that. He may be dense at times (and that he could freely admit), but he wasn't stupid. 

So he had somehow gotten himself conned into coming and was wondering what he was supposed to do now that he was here. Ron was sure he could let Hermione and Blaise handle the actual situation- let them get hexed for taking a side, because he sure wasn't going to do it. 

"You'd think," Harry grunted out after hitting his head on the magical meter floating above him, "that wizards would have better ways of getting a person's height with all this magic." He swiped at the measuring tape that nearly whacked him in the face. 

"Oh, live with it." Draco snapped irritably. He was eyeing both Blaise and Hermione, who stood off to either side and were staring at the meter and tape with much amusement. The blonde Slytherin twitched a little as he watched the thoughtful look on Hermione's face. 

"I don't understand why this is so important to either of you," Blaise was saying, a smirk evident on his face. "You both look to be about the same height." He made the mistake of stepping too close to Harry, "Which is amazing because I didn't think anyone could be as short as Draco- OW!" 

Ron snickered when he saw Harry grind his stockinged feet down on Blaise's foot, and the auburn-haired Slytherin glared weakly at the dark-haired boy. 

"We're not _short_." Harry supplied. "You only think so because you're _tall_." 

"Me and everyone else!" Blaise grinned deviously. 

"Stop moving around, Harry," Hermione scolded, not having seen what happened (either that, or was ignoring it). "You're upsetting the measuring tape." 

As if to confirm her words, the magical tape smacked Harry over the head. 

Draco heard Harry's yelp and grinned despite himself. The two were standing back to back and pressed against each other, each trying to stand just a bit taller while the measuring tape were taking the numbers down. Draco was more than enjoying this moment, seeing it as memorable and amusing. 

"I have to say that I don't really understand the importance in this, either," Ron admitted. "I mean… even if you do find out who is taller, it'll only be by a tiny bit." 

"The point is," Draco said when Harry was swearing profusely at the tape, "that I'm trying to prove that Harry's the shortest boy in sixth year." 

"Don't be so confident about that, Malfoy," Harry snapped, making a face as Draco turned his head to grin at him. "You're pretty short yourself." 

"And I'm more than willing to give up the position of being shortest to you," Draco quipped. His grin grew at the flustered look on Harry's face from being so close to the other boy. 

"Done!" Hermione beamed as she waved her wand and the tape all returned to wherever it came from. There was a note that appeared in her hand and she studied it intently, Blaise rushing to her in order to find out the results. Ron was leaning over Hermione's shoulder, and he was the first to let out a bark of laughter. 

"What? What?" Harry demanded, brushing back his wild bangs and looking at Draco in confusion. The other boy shrugged, also not knowing what was going on. 

"Well…" Hermione was trying hard not to smile too widely, "It seems that Draco is a bit taller than you, Harry." 

"I should have figured that hair like that would make you look taller," Blaise informed the green eyed Gryffindor with a fond grin. 

Harry's eyes widened behind the large glasses and he patted his hair questioningly, and then nearly stumbled as he felt Draco latch onto him from behind. 

"Ha!" The Slytherin in question was laughing merrily. He grinned as Harry sputtered and stumbled about for a bit, adjusting to Draco's weight on his back. "Didn't I tell you that you're shorter?" 

Harry turned to the smiling face inches from his own and couldn't resist the urge to stick his tongue out at the Slytherin childishly. The response to that was a laugh on Draco's part, and a flash from a camera. 

Everyone turned with a surprise to see Blaise grinning, holding a muggle camera. 

"I was waiting for the perfect candid shot," Blaise explained, pointing to the camera. "Although I think I already got in a dozen shots without the flash. This one was just too perfect to pass up, though." 

Hermione and Ron snickered as both Draco and Harry shouted at Blaise to give them the camera before chasing him out of the room and into one of the many halls in Hogwarts. They would have to ask for copies. 

  
  


End scene 1

Haven't written fluff in so long- I'm not sure I could still do it. ^^;; Was going to put this scene in the story, but it really wasn't part of the plot at all- just a scene that strengthens the characters' relationships. The scene first popped into my head when I was wondering whether Harry or Draco would be taller- and I figured that they looked to be about the same height, only that Harry had an issue with his hair sticking up all over the place. So this was what happened! ^__^

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